Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Caroline became aware of many things when she opened her eyes the next morning.
One: She was in a bed with Tyler Owens. His head was a few inches above her, facing away—but one of his arms was strewn over her head like he'd been holding her as he fell asleep.
Two: She couldn't remember if he had been holding her when they fell asleep. She doubted it, but, then again...
No. She did not sleep with Tyler Owens. Well... okay, she did, but not sleep with sleep with him, just—they slept in the same bed, a respectable distance from each other, both vaguely aware of the fact that they could have initiated contact but did not.
The third thing she noticed—no, remembered—was that Tyler slept like a horse. He had been gifted with the ability to sleep through anything, and clearly, as Caroline stumbled off the mattress and onto the cold tile of her empty bedroom floor: That matter had not changed.
The fourth and final thing Caroline realized was that somebody was at her door.
The rapping was polite, but loud, echoing through the unfurnished house like a boombox. Caroline furrowed her brow, confused—she didn't have neighbors, much less any that would come give her a welcome wagon party at seven in the morning.
Briskly, she glanced down to the rest of herself. She had slept in her clothes from the day before, because she didn't really have any other option—hell, she wasn't about to sleep naked (or even half-) with her ex in bed next to her. So the old, worn-in jeans and Massachusetts T-shirt had to do for the night. (They didn't do well. Her legs ached in uncomfortable places and her back stung from a stuck-out wire in her bra.)
Again, the person on the other side of the door knocked to alert their presence. Caroline scowled, shutting the door to her bedroom as quietly as she could behind herself, and padded down the hall to the front door.
The knocking slowed to a stop, and Caroline paused, her hand catching just an inch away from the knob. The sound of the creaky stairs down to the gravel driveway caught her attention. Then—and she didn't know what did it, since her early bird visitor was already on their way out—she wrenched the door open, hastily running a hand down her hair as the man turned around at the bottom of the steps.
Caroline's breath caught in her throat, and her heart seemed to be right up there with it. Her eyes were suddenly stinging with sharp tears. She blinked them back, inhaling a shaky breath, tipping her head to the side in disbelief. "Daddy?"
